20th Century Oregon Trail
My friends and I were sharing this little gem with each other yesterday. It’s one of McSweeney’s Short Imagined Monologues, this one entitled “No Son of Mine Plays Oregon Trail Like That.” Any child of the early 80s must remember Oregon Trail… you choose your character, buy your supplies, and head off down the Oregon Trail, making choices along the way on which way to travel, what time of year to leave, rations to give your family, etc… It’s a great classic computer game. The McSweeney’s essay was particularly entertaining to read as it brought back many memories… mainly of a small group of us at Bowen Elementary playing the game during keyboarding class.
Those were good days.
Jake and I had a conversation about it yesterday:
Jake: hahaha i had this idea a few years ago where the idea was to be the banker, outfit yourself pretty well but be frugal at the same time make it to one of the better forts and just camp outfor days and days at a time just keep it going… basically, decide for your family that you know what, oregon doesn’t really have that much going for it, and Fort Kennard in wonderful Utah would make a great place to settle down me: haha Jake: and see how far it will let you go… a generation? two? me: I wonder what would happen… Jake: into the 20th century? me: oh man. Can you imagine the 20th century Oregon Trailers? Ones that settled in Utah… I think I’ve heard this story before…. Joseph Smith.Jake: haha
